figure of speech
Nonliteral language technique
A figure of speech is an expression that uses words in nonliteral or unusual ways for rhetorical effect.
Metaphor, simile, hyperbole, and irony are figures of speech.
When someone says it's raining cats and dogs, the phrase is a figure of speech—no animals are falling from the sky.
The term often appears when clarifying that words weren't meant literally: I said I'd kill him, but that was a figure of speech.
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- analogyExplanatory likeness between things
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
- personificationAttributing humanity to non-humans
metonymy · synecdoche · irony · oxymoron · paradox · alliteration · anaphora · apostrophe
Fixed phrase, opaque meaning
- proverbTraditional saying expressing truth
- sayingShort, wise expression
- adageTraditional pithy truth
- aphorismTerse general truth
maxim · cliché · expression · colloquialism · turn of phrase · catchphrase · motto · epigram
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- analogyExplanatory likeness between things
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
personification · metonymy · synecdoche · irony · oxymoron · paradox · alliteration · anaphora · apostrophe · litotes
idiom
Fixed phrase, opaque meaning
aphorism · maxim · cliché · expression · colloquialism · turn of phrase · catchphrase · motto · epigram · witticism
- figurestrope, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification
- semanticsmeaning, denotation, sense, connotation, reference
- expressionsexpression, I love you, phrase, idioms, thank you
- figurative languagemetaphor, simile, analogy, personification, metonymy
- language nuancesnuance, idiom, idioms, connotation, denotation
- metaphorsbroken heart, dead metaphor, mixed metaphor, time is money, extended metaphor
speech, figure, figures, figuring, disfigure, figurative, transfigure, prefigure, figuration